Romans 9:31
New Living Translation
31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.
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Romans 11:7
New Living Translation
7 So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened.
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Romans 3:20
New Living Translation
20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
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James 2:10-11
New Living Translation
10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.”[a] So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
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Galatians 5:3-4
New Living Translation
3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
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Romans 10:2-4
New Living Translation
2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.[a] As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.
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- 10:4 Or For Christ is the end of the law.
Philippians 3:6
New Living Translation
6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
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Galatians 3:21
New Living Translation
21 Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises?[a] Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.
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- 3:21 Some manuscripts read and the promises?
Galatians 3:10-11
New Living Translation
10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”[a] 11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”[b]
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Romans 4:14-15
New Living Translation
14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 15 For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)
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Isaiah 51:1
New Living Translation
A Call to Trust the Lord
51 “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—
all who seek the Lord!
Consider the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were mined.
Romans 9:30-32
New Living Translation
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law[a] instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.
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- 9:32 Greek by works.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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